Here, then, on the north side of St. Katherine's Hospital, and
eastward of Little Tower Hill, King Edward laid the foundations of the
monastery, and made it subject to the monastery of Beaulieu, in France,
of which he was the founder. It was called also East Minster, or New
Minster without the walls.
"In the charter of endowment, dated March 2nd, 1349, he gave the abbot
and monks all those messuages, with the appurtenances at Tower Hill,
which he had of John Corey, in pure and perpetual alms, ordering the
house to be called 'The Royal Free Chapel of St. Mary of Graces.'"
In another charter it is said, "The king founded this house in
remembrance and acknowledgement of the goodness of Almighty God, and
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom he had
often called upon and found helpful to him by sea and by land; in
wars and other perils, and therefore ordered this house to be called
'The King's Free Chapel of the Blessed Virgin of Graces, _in memoriam
Gratiarum_.'"
He imported some monks from Beaulieu to occupy the house, and appointed
Walter de Sta Cruce first president of the chapel, "whom he enjoined
kindly to receive and treat the said religious who were to profess
religion in the said chapel."
The house was a stately building of the new decorated Gothic, with
its floriated windows, crocketted pinacles, flying buttresses, and
clustered pillars, presenting a fair aspect to passers by on the
river, as it stood a little way back from the bank, glowing in its
pristine freshness and beauty. And the boatmen would rest on their oars
and listen to the matins or vespers chanted by the brethren within its
walls.
In the 50th year of his reign, the King further augmented the endowment
by placing the Manors of Poplar, of Gravesend, and other manors in
Kent, in trust for the abbey.
Of the Abbots, the names of but few have survived. William de Santa
Cruce, formerly Abbot of Geronden, was the first, to whom the king made
an allowance of £20 per annum for the maintenance of the household.
William Warden, probably his successor, was Abbot in 1360. Paschalis
occurs in a record of the eighth Henry V., 1418. John Langton is named,
in 1495, in a bequest from Jane Hall, of a tenement for her soul's
health. In 1494 he was presented to the vicarage of Gedington, and in
1498, by Sir T. Lovelace, to that of Stokedanbey in the diocese of
Lincoln. John, probably the same, occurs in 1503. Henry More made his
profession as Abbot in 1516.
The house was surrendered in 1539, when the revenues were estimated at
£602 12s. 6d. gross, and £546 10s. net per annum.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account